The academy: introductions
by xxxLucyxharemfanxxx
Summary: With a barely-father and an agoraphobic mother, Lucy hates the isolation that she's in. When her family moves to a new school district, Lucy gets in a group of boys nearly perfect in every way. She quickly bonds with them, but the boys have secrets of their own, and will do anything to keep her safe from the place they've sworn their allegiance to. The Academy: Fairy tail.
1. Happy

**Hey people! I'm fairly new here, so this is my first fanfiction, so please constructive criticism only, please! And if any of you people don't like it, please don't read beyond what you don't like! Oh, and fair warning, the characters might be a bit OC, but this is fanfiction so I figured "what the heck?" I do not own Fairy Tail, nor do I own the Academy, which is what this fanfiction is based on. All chapters will be in Lucy's POV.**

My heart thundered under my breast. I was sure my parents could hear me, asleep in their beds inside the two story, gray-siding clad house on Sunnyvale Court **(made up place, by the way)**. Rain puddled at my feet, soaking the dirt of a thousand walks into my off-brand tennis shoes. I usually enjoyed the rain. I liked the feel of walking barefoot in puddles in the grass and the smell of rain mixed with pine trees. Tonight, the air was crisp against my skin for an early August in South Carolina **(real place)**. I would be out all night, though, so this was completely bad timing.

With my toes pointed out to the street, I stood at the edge of the long driveway. A cool wind split through my dark poncho. I wanted to shiver, but I steeled myself and ignored the cold. _This is it, _I told myself. _If you're going to leave, you need to do it now. _A new house sat half-finished around the bend of Sunnyvale. I explored it yesterday while on a walk and discovered the back door was unlocked.

My hand gripped the straps of my overloaded backpack. _One night, _I told myself. One night where I'm not sleeping under the same roof as my parents **(it'll all explain itself, I promise!)**. _I'm not going to die, like my mother seems to think would happen if I did_. I knew that normal people, everyone else in the world, they weren't all murdered and raped the moment they went outside. Thoughts of my bedroom in the house behind me flooded my mind; the soft green comforter, the mauve pink carpet, the warmth of the cotton sheets, a quiet symphony playing from the stereo.

I shook my head at the thought, lifting my hand to my brow to flick away the collection of water there. No. I had already made the decision. Besides, it was too late to turn back. Sneaking out of the house was hard enough to do at night. I wouldn't want to be caught trying to sneak back in. I forced my leg up and out to step foot on the dark pavement of the road. My parents' house was the newest on the half-circle street, tucked away behind a forest near a new highway. There were only twenty homes in the neighborhood. In front of my parents' house was an empty lot, room for one more house by the land was still undeveloped. The rest of the street had several middle income homes and made for a very quiet neighborhood. Unfortunately the street light was never installed in front of my parents' home. Even though I knew the blacktop was flat, it made me nervous that I might trip on a stick – or an ax murderer.

I stomped my other foot onto the road, turned left and started walking. The wind swept up around my face, and I tucked my head down to brace myself against it. I fell into the deeper shadows of the road, shielded from the glow of neighbors' outdoor lights. I shivered as a breeze picked up around me. Even as my heart continued to pound, I moved forward. Every second I envisioned my sister or my parents waking to find me gone and glancing out the window to spot me. Only I knew better. They probably wouldn't notice until well in the afternoon that I was nowhere to be found. The reluctance I felt was only the whispers of my mother echoing in my head.

A slippery thudding sound started racing toward me. It was so soft at first that I thought it was my own heart. The sound drew closer. I imagined some maniac running barefoot toward me. I started out into the dark, trying to use the light from the house further up the road to catch whatever it might be. _I should move, _I thought. _I should get out of the way. _I willed myself to turn around. A gust swept into my face. My eyes watered. A mass hurled itself at me and I fell back.

My book bag slipped away from my body and I crashed onto my butt and my left arm. My hand and wrist scraped against the street. Something heavy and wet sat on top of me. A warm, salty breath filled my nose. The wild of my imagination ran through every possibility. Rapist. Murderer. The instinct to scream swept through me but my throat caught and I only gasped. I was paralyzed. A slobbering tongue licked my arm and then a soft, cold nose nuzzled it. My heart continued to beat but I finally took a breath, relieved.

"Hey," a shout came from up the road from the direction I had been heading. "Are you okay?"

My whole body went rigid again. The sound of footsteps came closer and I tried to angle myself out from underneath the dog. The dog wouldn't budge and instead continued to sit on my legs. It barked and then licked my arms again.

"I'm sorry," said the voice. "Happy, get off her." **(In my world happy is a dog, ok?)** In the shadow of the street, I couldn't tell who it was. I wasn't that familiar with the neighbors anyway. The voice was smooth, masculine. While his tone was gentle, there was a strength behind it. Since he wasn't shouting at me or telling me he would kill me, I tried to calm my heart. They're not as bad as she thinks, I told myself. People aren't all evil.

The dog was pulled away from me. The guy knelt by my side. An arm went around my shoulders, lifting me slightly. "Are you hurt?" His touch around my shoulder sent a shiver through me that I couldn't control. It was such a warm gesture and I wasn't used to people touching me. Through my shivering, I felt the pang at my hip where I had fallen. Pain seared through the scrapes on my arm. I coddled it to my chest. "It's fine."

"No, you're not," he said. The strength in his voice shining through more. "You scraped your arm." He put another arm around my waist and prepped his knees. "You can stand, right?"

My cheeks flushed so hot, I could have been glowing. As much as I felt awkward, I was scared to admit that this stranger's kind hands on me felt so reassuring. "I think so."

He pulled me up gently with him until we were standing together. The wind whipped around us. My poncho flew like a flag behind me. He turned his body until his back was against the wind, protecting me from the worst of it. He brought his hands up to cup around my face. "I'm going to take you to my house."

I still couldn't guess his age. From what I felt of his body, he was easily a head taller than me and there was some definition of muscles. I blushed at the thought that I had been touching his chest. He bent over and picked up my book bag. He grunted at first as he lifted it.

"Let me take it," I said.

"No." he heaved it over his shoulder. With a free arm, he wrapped it around my shoulder and guided me up the street. "Let's get out of this rain. We'll assess the damage inside."

"What about your dog?"

"He'll follow."

My heart pounded again as I followed him up the street. My hands shook, my knees quivered. I tried to think calmly, that this was just him being nice. My mother's voice shot through my head, all her warnings swirled through my mind.

I could only hope that I wasn't on my way to die.

**Well, that's all for this chapter. Further down in the series (it will be a series) it will explain why her mom acts like this. And there is always the twist. Anyway, hope you liked it! If you do, please review! It's the motivation of every writer! Till next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, here's the second chapter. Thanks to all those who read my first chapter so far. This goes to you, 2featherbraids and kelpiejh. Thanks for the support, and thanks 2featherbraids for the constructive criticism. I really appreciate a good review. Anyways, first the disclaimer and then to the chapter. Onward!**

**I do not own Fairy Tail, nor do I own the academy. Their respective authors do. **

His house was the first one on the right after the empty lot. I remembered seeing it from my bedroom window. It was a one story, brick, ranch-style home, with a finished room over the two-car garage. The garage door was open, with one car parked inside. Another car was parked in the corner of the wide driveway toward the back. A safety light flickered on automatically as we crossed into the garage, revealing the green poncho he wore.

The hood covered most of his face. If I had seen that coming toward me in the night, I would have run screaming. I wondered if it was wise now to follow him into his house.

The dog followed us and he sat by the crate that was leaning against the wall. He waited, waging his tail. In the shadows, he looked so big, and I could smell the heady wetness of his fur, making my nose tickle.

"Not right now," the guy said, waving his hand at the dog. The dog sank to the floor, head on top of one of his paws. The guy hit the button for the garage door to close and the light went out, sinking us deeper into the dark, so much that I was blinded by it.

"Come on," he said. He took my uninjured arm and pulled me inside. I stumbled in behind him. Once we entered the house, there was a short hallway with a wood floor at our feet. The house was dark and I crept along behind him, keeping close to his back so I wouldn't get lost. I caught a glimpse of a dining room beyond the hallway. Before we got to it, he opened the door to the left just before the end of the hall.

It opened to a stairwell, with light blue carpeting covering the steps. There was a dim light on somewhere above. He started up the stairs. I didn't know if I should follow but I didn't want to be caught downstairs if there were other people in the house.

Imagining that we were alone in the house also scared me.

I followed him up. At the top, the bedroom above the garage was spacious. There was a door open to the left that led to a small bathroom. There was another door next to it that was closed and I only guessed it to be a closet. There were windows facing the driveway and one looking out onto the road at the front of the house. There was a bench seat near the window toward the front with a couple of neatly embroidered pillows in the corners.

A bed was pushed up against the wall by a window overlooking the driveway, leaving a huge amount of space in the middle. In the far left corner was a computer desk, monitor turned off. A small bookshelf sat next to it. A brass lamp glowed on his desk. He crossed the room, touching it a couple of times and the brightness increased. He turned to me.

His black eyelashes had droplets of moisture, slightly masking his eyes and enhanced greatly his high cheekbones. His, extraordinarily, salmon hair stuck to his forehead and at the top of his ears. If I had to guess his age, he might have been a couple years older than I was, if that. He was a head taller than I was, with a medium build and his skin was slightly tan. The way his thin brows angled at the edges made him look curious and constantly interested. His poncho had a Nike swoosh mark and his black Converse looked brand new. If my older sister would have seen him, she would have told me he was a troublemaker right off. She may have missed the way he was standing upright, shoulders back, with a cool confidence that I could only dream to have. What etched into my mind, though, was the kind smile he had on his face. It warmed me instantly.

I blushed when I realized he was examining me under the same scrutiny. I imagined I looked like a complete wreck. My blond hair was tied up in a small bun in a clip, but half undone and sticking to my neck. My small nose was probably bright red from the surprising chill of the night and my brown eyes were probably bloodshot or had heavy bags or both. I was probably pale as a ghost with the dark poncho sagging around me. My jeans were sticking to my legs, my sketcher sneakers were discolored from wear and dripping.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I should probably have taken my shoes off. They're soaked."

"I'm not worried about the carpet right now. One thing at a time." He dropped my book bag on the floor by his desk and then moved toward the bathroom door. "Take that poncho off and let's look at your arm."

I followed him, pulling the poncho away and bending over a little to pull it off of me. The green t-shirt underneath stuck to my body so much I might as well not have worn it at all. It was up against my breasts, including pushed up between pushed up between them, clearly outlining even the details of the underwire in the bra I was wearing. The cloth sucked into my belly button.

His eyes followed where I was looking. I tried pulling the shirt away from my body but as soon as I let go, it fell back against me, attaching itself to my skin. His cheeks tinted red as he took the poncho from me and hung it on the curtain rod over the shower tub on the right.

The bathroom had just enough room for the tub, a toilet in the middle and a counter for a sink to the left with a wide mirror above it. The powder blue flowery wallpaper and a matching set of rugs made it feel cozy.

He reached over for my left arm lifting it gently, in the light, I could see the blood that had dripped over my wrist from a gash, I sucked in a breath. Now that I saw it, the sharp pain in my arm felt crisp. He lifted my arm closer to his face. He investigated the cut, using a gentle forefinger to push at my skin to check to see if it was still bleeding. "My god," he said. "I'm sorry. Really. This was my fault."

I shook my head at him, trying to look nonplussed about the pain. "It was your dog. Not really his fault. He was excited, I guess."

"He was excited," he agreed. He moved away to open a drawer under the counter, he lifted out a red and white first aid kit, and reached for a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. "I've noticed the lead was getting thin in the middle for a while. When he smelled or heard you, he took off and it broke."

His eyes met mine as he tugged me gently closer by the elbow so that I would be at a better angle for the light. "He's not usually that bad. He needed to go out but he hates this weather. So I'm sorry about that. I should have replaced the lead before now. And I don't know why he jumped on you. He never does that."

His eyes, black as they were, were shining from the light above us, and I felt my breath escape me. I found his eyes to be gorgeous. From the depths of my mind, even while distracted, I knew I was supposed to say something, but the way he was looking at me made my heart skip and my mind went blank. I wasn't even sure why I felt the way I did. I only knew that he was making my insides flutter. "…name."

An eyebrow arched. "Hm?"

"I don't know your name."

The soft lips smiled at the corner, just enough. He was pleased with me. "I'm Natsu."

Natsu. It was a unique name like mine so I liked it

He waited patiently for a moment and then chuckled as if uncomfortable. "What's yours?"

It took me a moment to guess what he meant. My head was still foggy that following the conversation was difficult. "Uh… Lucine. But you can call me Lucy. I know it's a weird name."

"No weirder than 'Natsu'."

I smiled a little. "I suppose not. Weird names are nice, though."

The crest of his high cheekbones tinted to a pink that looked nice on him. "It's nice to meet you. And please don't hate me."

"For what?"

He applied a clean cloth with the peroxide to my arm. I had been so distracted by him that I hadn't noticed he had prepared one. The sting went straight to my bones. The chill from the weather outside only made it that much uncomfortable. A shutter ran through my body, wracking my bones together, causing the sting to radiate through me. I bit my lip, holding back the urde to cry out in pain.

As he cleaned my arm, I turned my head, looking out into his bedroom. Not watching him not only relieved the pain but also the awkwardness I felt. I wanted to look at his fae but I was too nervous to face him. I didn't want to get caught staring.

After the blood and dirt was washed away, he applied a large square bandage to cover the spot with. "I think you're patched up." He gave the sides of the bandages a few more rubs to ensure they were sticking and then crumpled the plastic wrapper in his hands. "Anything else broken or bleeding?"

I shrugged and shook my head. I didn't want to mention my hip, which felt very sore. It wasn't bleeding so I didn't think it was important to mention. "I'm fine."

He looked at me a moment, as if wondering whether I was being honest with him or not. He slowly nodded. "Okay. Well, Lucy, I hope this won't ruin your impression of me right off."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we are neighbors, right? Your family just moved in?"

My eyes widened. I guessed there was no hiding it. "Yes. No. I mean, don't worry about it. It was just an accident." I pursed my lips, unsure if I should say anything more.

His hand moved to the top of his head, where he slid it through his hair. The muscles in his arm flexed. "So what were you doing out so late?"

I had been hoping he wouldn't ask. "Just taking a walk. I couldn't sleep."

"With a book bad weighing a ton on your back? In the middle of this weather?"

My face heated up and I didn't know how to answer him. The silence stretched on between us as I struggled with words. I stalled for so long that I didn't know if I could respond at all. A sympathetic but confused smile spread over his lips. "Hey, I'm sorry. Look, it's personal. Whatever it was, did you have to do it in the middle of the night?"

I sucked in a breath. "It felt like a good idea at the time."

The corner of his mouth dropped slightly but he caught it and his face relaxed and became unreadable. "Okay. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to find you something dry to wear. I'm going to go downstairs to change. I'll make some hot chocolate, too. If I come back and you're not here, I'll understand. If you are, you get to tell me what's going on."

His head bowed a little until his forehead was so close to my own that I could feel his warmth from it. I had nowhere to look but into his stunning black eyes. "I make a halfway decent friend if you give me a chance."

I didn't know how to respond to this either so I simply nodded. A complete stranger was offering his friendship. Right here, in this moment, it was something I never imagined. I felt my eyes watering and I turned my face away from him to hide it. I couldn't look into his eyes anymore. It was like he could see into me and who I really was and I didn't want him to see me.

He straightened up and stepped out into his bedroom. I stood in the doorway of his bathroom to watch. He opened the closet and pulled out a gray t-shirt,

"It'll be a bit big one you," he said. He dug around into the back and pulled out a pair of blue striped pajama bottoms. "These might be too big as well but it at least has a tie." He hung the clothes over his arm and closed the closet door. I stepped backward into the bathroom and he held out the clothes. Our fingers brushed and his eyes held mine. "Just put your wet things in the bathtub for now. When they aren't so soggy, we'll toss them into the dryer."

I was unable to express to him how warm and welcome he was making me feel. I mustered up my warmest smile. It was all I could manage. When he spotted it, he paused in his motions to look at me. I wondered if I appeared crazy to him so I tried to backpedal and look just normal – pursing my lips and looking compliant.

There was a change in his expression that I didn't quite understand but he turned away and closed the bathroom door behind himself.

After he left, I flipped the lock on the door and stood in the bathroom, looking at my reflection in the mirror. My hair was strung out, even though the clip I had it twisted in hung on. My cheeks and nose were red and my skin looked so pale in comparison. I felt embarrassed that he saw me like that. The thought of leaving crept into my mind. This was more than I was prepared to handle. Spending a night out was one thing. Staying in a house with a boy pushed thoughts into my head, whispers my mother would recite to me. Rape. Sexual assault. Kidnapping.

Only Natsu had shown more warmth and caring toward me than I'd felt from anyone in a long time. Here was proof against everything my mother had taught me about the dangers of the world. The first person I'd met took me in, was making hot chocolate and was inviting me to be his friend.

My heart was pounding at the thought of him coming back. Despite his warmth, despite my own head telling me this was just what people did, that normal people were nice and helpful, I was still nervous at the thought of him knowing anything about me. Was it better to be alone?

I put on his shirt and pajama pants. The ends of the waist tie hung to my mid-thigh after I tied it off. I rolled the cuffs on the pant legs but my heels were still stepping on the cotton material. I didn't want to be in the bathroom when he got back so I tiptoed into his bedroom. The desk was so neat that it looked brand new. The bed was unmade but the corners at the foot of the bed were tucked in sharp angles. He must have gotten up to take out the dog. The sheets were calling to me but I was too uncomfortable to sit on his bed and I was too sore to stand. I moved to the window seat and knelt on the cushion to look out. Rain splattered against the window. In a way I suppose I was lucky I had run into Natsu. I picked a bad night to break into an empty house. Why hadn't I considered the weather when I though to do this? I knew the answer though. Earlier that day my mother had made a point to lecture me as I was doing the dishes.

"There was a little girl on the news today," she had said, standing across our kitchen and watching as I rinsed the plates. She had her arms under her breast, bulking up the material of her thing burgundy robe around her. "Three men kidnapped her from her front lawn and molested her. It took only a minute."

It was one of a hundred similar stories I had heard over the week. I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from telling her there were millions of girls who played in the front lan that weren't kidnapped. It wouldn't matter. She wouldn't listen. It was so overwhelming to me. I felt I needed to prove it to myself. It was my way of bringing myself into reality and not getting swallowed up into the nightmare she insisted was true. One night out of the house would be enough.

"I guess you're staying," Natsu said behind me. I turned on the bench to look at him. He was wearing a clean white t-shirt and a pair of green pajama bottoms. His pink hair was combed away from his eyes. He carried two navy blue mugs with steam spiraling off at the top. "I hope you're good with marshmallows."

I smiled. Who didn't love marshmallows?

He tilted his chin toward me. "Scoot over."

I tucked my knees into my chest and moved toward the window, my back pressed to the wall. Natsu took the outside, his back against the opposite wall, and handed me the mug. The warmth from the outside of the cup was a little too much for my hands that were still chilly, so I held it carefully by the handle with my fingertips barely touching the bottom. Blowing gently to cool it, I took a sip, letting the warm, sweet liquid pool over my tongue before sliding down my throat.

"So, where did you move from?" He took a sip from his own mug, but his eyes fixed on me.

I blushed and glanced out the window. "A tiny town in Illinois."

"Did you leave any friends?"

I shook my head and turned back toward him. "No one I would write to. I really wasn't that close to anyone."

His hands rubbed at the mug, his thumb tracing the lip and he cast his eyes to the marshmallows floating on top. He had a knee up on the cushion of the window seat. His leg was just a breath away from mine. The almost-touch made my heart flutter. "You'll be going to public school, right?"

Why did he say it like that? "Like everyone else, I guess." For which I was grateful. Despite my mother's complaints about sending us to school, my father insisted we were allowed. It was the only thing he stepped up to her about. I believed he was sure if we didn't go to school that she could never keep up with a home school system and the state would be after them.

He looked up, confusion in his face. "What grade?"

"Sophomore," I said. I hoped it was ok to be honest.

His head tilted, his eyes sparked. "Me, too. What are you taking this year?"

I shrugged. "I don't really know what I want."

He blinked. A silence stretched between us. We sipped our cocoa together and my eyes flickered from his knee that was so close to mine and the window. It was a strange feeling, like something I had seen out of a movie. Two people sharing an evening together and dabbling with small talk. Did people really do things like this? My mind whirled with something to say but I was never good at starting conversations.

After a few moments, he spoke. "Do your parents want you to take something in particular?"

I sighed and nodded. "The daughter of a railway systems engineer should have a degree in something. My older sister already started in the arts. I'm getting pushed into science."

"Would it be that bad? Science is ok."

I grimaced. I didn't want to offend him by being truthful. I liked science but I wasn't sure if it was my favorite. "I don't know if I want to do that."

His head tilted as he gazed down at me. "What do you prefer?"

"I'm not sure really," I said. Thoughts of the paperwork in my room filled my head. I liked this conversation better. It didn't feel too personal. "There's so many choices. I don't know if I want to devote my life to science. Or art. Or something else. It all sounds good."

He laughed softly. "That sounds familiar."

I blushed again because I didn't understand what he meant. I moved the mug up to my lips mostly to feel the heat from the cocoa. "I don't hate science. I don't hate anything. It's like I want everything. Not fully. I just want a touch." I felt I was rambling and took a sip of cocoa just to get myself to shut up.

He fiddled with his own mug. "Lucy… where were you going?"

I kept the mug close to my lower lip and breathed deeply, letting the warm sweet air fill my lungs. "There's that new house up the road. I was going to sleep there for the night."

"You were running away?"

I closed my eyes. I hated those words. "No. Not for forever. I just wanted one night out of the house."

"So you wanted to break into a house? Alone? In the middle of the night?"

My face burned and I turned my head away to look out into the night again. Only this time the sight was blurred by tears. "It sounds crazy." I blinked a lot, trying to force the tears back. When I felt a little calmer, I turned to look at him. "I wasn't going to hurt anything. My parents are… different. I don't get out much. I just wanted to get away for the night. I didn't want to feel trapped anymore."

"You just needed a release."

I felt my heart lift. He understood! "It was just a bad night to do it. I shouldn't probably have thought of the empty house. I just knew the back door was open and I wouldn't have harmed anything."

The corners of his mouth lifted. "I have to admit, I can't imagine you commiting a breaking and entering. You don't look like the bad girl type."

I made a face at him and he laughed. When he did, I couldn't help it. I giggled too. "I guess it seems pretty silly. It's just a single night."

He tilted his head. "Why tonight? I mean what happened today that you felt you had to get out?"

I blushed again and I held a palm to my cheek, pretending to rub it so I could hide the redness. "It's complicated."

"I'm pretty smart. Try me."

Not that I've said all this out loud, it did seem dramatic and silly. "it seemed a better idea than hiding away forever. I don't want to believe the world is terrible." My voice shook as I spoke. I worried that I might cry in front of him.

His smile softened and his eyes sparkled again. "Lucy, you're and idiot."

The insult made my mouth pop open and a rush of heat radiated from my face. "But…I…"

He lifted a hand and dropped a finger on my open lips to stop me from talking. "Three reasons. For one, you picked a bad night to take off."

I couldn't disagree with him. I also couldn't think clearly. His finger remained on my lips and I wasn't sure how to move. It was hard to concentrate on what he was saying.

"Two, if you knew the house was empty, someone else could be lurking in there, too. Maybe a hobo or some other teenagers. It might not be true to you, but people who break into houses are often not very nice people. You'd be walking in on them."

I hadn't even thought about that. "What's the third?" I asked, even as his finger was still on me and I was more than mumbling. He grinned at it and moved his finger away.

"If your parents caught you, you might have been grounded for a lifetime and I would have never met you."

My heart stopped in that moment. I thought he was just teasing me but something in his eyes shimmered honest. It melted me at the core. He cared. But why? About me? How?

He tilted his mug and drained the rest of his cocoa. "Do you have to be somewhere tomorrow?"

I shook my head.

"Are you still intent on staying out for the night?"

Would he tell my parents about it? Somehow I didn't think he would. He was giving me a choice. Did I really want to do it? He was right about not going to the empty house. Walking out in the middle of the night was not the best way to prove anything other than I was taking a big risk. However I couldn't stand by and let myself be caught forever in the small world they built for us. "If I could figure something else out…"

He put the mug down and then planted a palm on my knee. "So how about this, I'll let you sleep here tonight. I think you'll feel better in the morning about it all. After that, give me a month."

It took everything in my will power not to pull away from his touch. It felt so intimate that it made me shake. I blinked at him, confused. "To do what?"

"We'll get your parents to relax so you don't have to sneak out."

I smirked again. "Now who is being idiotic?"

He smiled, sincere and warming. "I mean it."

"You don't know me. Why do you care?"

He shrugged. "Friends help each other. We're friends now, aren't we?"

I couldn't answer him right away. Could it really be that simple? Growing up, I wasn't allowed to attend parties or even just hang out. Outside of school, I saw no one. Friends were the people who I sat with at lunch, and never said a word to them otherwise, never called, never went to the mall with. The truth was I didn't have a clue what a true friend was supposed to be like. Was it supposed to happen so quickly? "I suppose so."

He nodded and then stood up. He took my mug from me. "I'm going to take these downstairs and put Happy into his crate. You go hop into bed."

My mouth fell open and I glanced at his bed. "But… you…"

He laughed at my expression. "Don't worry. There's a roll-away bed underneath that one. When I get back I'll pull it out and will sleep there."

My parents would have a fit. Still, I shivered with excitement. I'd never been out anywhere and my first night alone, I would be sleeping in a boy's room. "But maybe I could sleep on the roll-away thing. I mean it's your bed."

"Just get in, will you? It's late." He turned and thudded his way back down the stairs. I froze where I was for a moment. Again tears came to my eyes. He was so nice to me. How could I leave now? Maybe h was right. Would he keep his promise though? Could I trust him? I've already told him so much and I couldn't believe I admitted out loud what I had never told a soul. It was those dark eyes and the way he looked at me. He made it so easy to talk to him because he was so calm and he instantly knew what to do. It was almost like magic.

I fidgeted with the hem of his shirt as I stepped toward his bed. I swallowed thickly, trying to still my heart. Forbidden territory. I inched myself down, sitting carefully on the edge until I heard it creak. Was I afraid it would bite me? I think I was more afraid of my parents finding out.

Only they wouldn't find out.

I tucked my toes in between the sheets, relaxed my head onto the pillow and yanked the blanket up over me. With the blanket pulled up to my chin, my body warmed a few degrees. I hadn't realized how cold my body was before. When my bones thawed, my whole body melted into the bed. I inhaled a delicate scent, a spicy fragrance. Is that what he smelled like? The softness of his pillow forced my eyes shut. Natsu's bed. A boy's bed.

The next time I opened my eyes, the room was dark. From what little light came through the window, I could see the roll-away bed that had been pulled out. Natsu was on his back, his elbow against his forehead. His mouth was open and he was breathing slowly. He looked completely adorable. I stayed awake as long as I could to watch him.

My new friend.

**Well, that certainly took a while to write. Over 4,200 words, not including both of the AN's at the beginning and end of this chapter. Anyways, for those of you who don't understand, sophomore year is the second year in high school for us Americans. And Illinois is a state, as well. Other than that, I think that's everything. Read and review, pretty please!**


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